About 10,000 Rogers County households and businesses do not have access to high-speed Internet, according to the state's broadband map. These homes and businesses are either "unserved" or "underserved." That means their download speeds are below 100 Mbps and upload speeds are below 20 Mbps.
The remaining 72% of Rogers County homes and businesses have high-speed broadband service; statewide, about 86% of homes and businesses have fast broadband.
The Will Rogers Downs, Sequoyah, Foyil, Winganon, Oologah, Owalla Road and Redbud Marina areas are the parts of Rogers County with the most unserved and underserved households. Residents in some of these areas recently received mailers from Cox Communications notifying them broadband would be available to them soon.
Conner Carroll, manager of government affairs for Cox, said construction on fiber optic cables in the Redbud Marina area is nearing completion. He said residents may be able to enroll for broadband very soon.
"I can tell you it's probably going to be August," Carroll said. "I'm always sensitive with timelines, just because we never know what can happen. A new tornado can come through, God forbid ... that could come through and change everything, right? But I do think at this point we're looking at August."
The mailers told residents to visit cox.com/getfiber to "learn more and sign up for updates." Carroll said residents do not need to sign up to get broadband service; signing up at the link allows Cox to notify a household or business more quickly when service for that address becomes available.
Rogers County District 3 Commissioner Ron Burrows said Cox is hooking up 1,100 homes and businesses to broadband in this round. County commissioners approved a $3 million contract with Cox for this project last May.
Burrows said almost all Rogers County residents will be able to enroll in broadband services soon.
"We're going to be one of, maybe the only, county in the state with a plan to serve 98% of our underserved and underserved population," Burrows said. "So very exciting for us to be that far out in front of this challenge."
Rogers is better-connected than neighboring Craig and Nowata counties. But Tulsa, Wagoner, Mayes and Washington counties all have a higher percentage of homes and businesses with 100Mbps/20Mbps Internet.
Burrows said connecting 98% of households to broadband is contingent upon Cox's receiving a grant of about $5.4 million from the Oklahoma Broadband Office.
Spokesperson Tim Allen said the office has approved the entire grant but is still sifting through paperwork. Allen said the office has also approved a grant of about $2.5 million for another company, Premier Holdings LLC, to expand broadband in northwestern Rogers County.
Mike Sanders, the office's executive director, said the grants are part of a program started in January. Using about $374 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, the Oklahoma Broadband Office is funding 130 projects in 55 counties across the state.
Sanders said the office broke ground on the first project Wednesday, July 24, in Marshall County on the shore of Lake Texoma. By January 2026, Sanders said the other 129 projects must also be complete.
"The overall program will have two years to not only be built, but operational," Sanders said. "So the ones in Rogers County, with Cox and Premier, because they're part of the same program that we started [ Wednesday, July 24], they will have within two years to get it built and operational."
Burrows said expanding broadband access in Rogers County has become even more important after the coronavirus pandemic. Remote school and work presented challenges to people with slow Internet, Burrows said, and online shopping has become more prevalent.
"Anymore, broadband is like having power and water to your house," Burrows said. "You don't buy a house unless it has water, sewer, electric. Broadband has become that necessary because of the world we live in."
Expanding broadband will bridge the "digital divide," Sanders said. He said the broadband office's endeavor is as significant as the rural electrification projects in the 1930s and the genesis of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s.
"This is such an important, historic opportunity," Sanders said. "We're really going to be changing lives ... We're excited about the opportunity to be part of it."
©2024 the Claremore Daily Progress, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
